Of Doors and Data
by RenaBhaLL
Summary: *UPDATED* Directly after the events of the third season, the digimon and their tamers work through mixed feelings about the seperation. Can they get back together? And is there a way to stay together? R&R!!
1. Decissions

~*~Disclaimer~*~  
  
I don't own Digimon itself, or characters associated with it. But if I make one of them up I own his/her/it's name and characteristics. The same goes for other new characters. Odds are I wont in this story, but I will someday. ') I also own chapter names, unless somebody sues me because they though of it first, but rest assured, I tried to be original. Same goes for story titles.  
  
Wait a minute...I don't make any money from doing this any way.  
  
Just a little *NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR* This story takes place pretending that the movies didn't happen, because being American, I'm woefully uninformed about the two season three oriented movies that came out in Japan. I've read reviews, but not one of them said how the digimon got back to the real world. If anybody knows, I'd appreciate it, and if you have Japanese friends, could you introduce me? Just kidding, sort of...  
  
Before you flame me because of incorrect names/descriptions, remember that I'll be updating this and changing a lot of things. Like the MarineAngemon & Calumon dedigivolution conflict.  
  
One last thing, constructive criticism is welcome. I prefer to use the Japanese names for the humans, but I'm guaranteed to screw up a bunch of them, so leave me a message with corrections some time!  
  
  
  
Thanks for dealing with me everybody, and remember to R&R!  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: Decisions  
  
With a number of loud thuds and a plume of smoke, the living projectiles landed. Through the cloud, small coughs could be heard, weak and feeble. As the dust settled, the shapes of several small Digimon appeared. The nine small creatures began to gather up their strength, and get a hold of themselves. Pokomon, the In-Training level digivolution of the better known Renamon shook herself off and looked around.  
  
Several of her comrades were unconscious, their weakest forms greatly effected by their entrance to the digital world. She went over to Hopmon and Gigimon, the dedigivolved forms of Monodramon and Guilmon and said, in a much higher pitched voice than usual, "we had better get the rest of them up, we need to see how soon we can move." It was true. The desert that was the lowest level of the digital world had seemed barren and dangerous before, but now they were alone, without tamers to help them, and in their weakest forms. To make things worse, after the onslaught of the D-Reaper, the land was decimated. Only small patches of sky could be seen through the black clouds of smoke, a byproduct of the destruction suffered at the hands of the D-Reaper. Worse though, Pokomon could see further, beyond some of the clouds, where there were no clouds at all. The space was more than black, worse than black. It was empty of all substance, like looking into a black hole. There were also places where she could see straight through to other levels of the digital world. 'Those lands must have been completely destroyed in and of themselves by the D-Reaper,' Pokomon thought. "We have to get out of here."  
  
Even through the heart rending separation from her tamer, Pokomon retained her cool, calm exterior.  
  
"You said it," Gigimon replied. He and Hopmon hurried over to the others and began to rouse them from their unwanted and potentially dangerous sleep. Pokomon walked over to the two farthest craters and noticed Calumon and MarineAngemon sitting up and looking around. "Why did you two not dedigivolve?" asked Pokomon.  
  
"Gosh, I guess I just don't have a lower level to dedigivolve to," Calumon said, scratching the back of his head. He was sort of embarrassed at his lack of digimon traits. The same had happened when he had tried to use some kind of special attack against a mocking Impmon and had looked like a contorting fool in the process.  
  
MarineAngemon uttered a string of, "Pipipipipipii PiiiiPi Pi," but Pokomon understood it as, Though my form has not changed, I feel that my strength has been drained out of me.  
  
"Looks like everybody's awake now Pokomon!" Hopmon yelled from a few meters away. Pokomon looked over to see Gummymon, once Terriermon, Chocomon, once Lopmon, Kapurimon, once Guardromon, and Yaamon, once Impmon getting up and dusting themselves off. The three walked over to the group of six, and they plopped down to get their bearings.  
  
"It's clear that we cannot stay here. The damage done to the digital plane seems to be greatest here, and the land itself is could be unstable," Pokomon said, and as if on cue, a small plateau in the distance began to phase in and out of existence. "There is no telling how long we'll be able to stay here, and if the damage done to the digital world will effect us."  
  
"Hey toots, that's easy for you to say, but look at us! We're all weak from the landing and that damned Juggernaut program, where will we go?" Yaamon exclaimed.  
  
"I hate to say it, but he has a point for once," Kapurimon noted.  
  
"Yeah, and I'm tired," complained Chocomon.  
  
"And I'm hungry!" seconded Gigimon.  
  
Pokomon's eye twitched, and a bit more edgily she looked around and said, "This is no place for a debate, we have to get to safer ground. The land over there looks less damaged, lets head over and rest, then we can argue all you want," and with that Pokomon started walking off in that direction, towards the small patch of blue in the distance.  
  
Gummymon looked over at the sulking group as they trudged off after Pokomon, and he said, "Moumantai you guys! There's nothing we can do for now, so lets just go and figure out what to do later!"  
  
The gang grumbled a response, and Gummymon got a little discouraged. 'Gosh, that always works, seems like these guys are really down. I wish Jenrya were here, he'd have been cheered up,' Gummymon thought, his own mind beginning to darken. Just then he realized that he had fallen behind the group. "WAIT FOR ME YOU GUYS!" he exclaimed as he hopped after the group.  
  
~*~  
  
The ragtag group of digital midgets hopped, walked, and floated to their destination, a small oasis with a cave about three miles from their landing point. The nine exhausted creatures collapsed after drinking their fill of the water and few plants around. Pokomon and Calumon had to restrain Gigimon from eating all the food, they might need it for later.  
  
After a good rest, Pokomon realized that they had all passed out, and that the rest of the group was still out cold. Though they needed the rest, Pokomon had to rouse them. She splashed water from the lake to cool them and jar them awake at the same time. "Get up, we all need to talk."  
  
The groggy bunch slowly got up, and shook themselves off. "Dammit why'd you have to wake me up, I was having this great dream about these two armored lady digimon. Why they were so good looking you couldn't compete foxy," Yaamon jibed. Pokomon looked at him, and instead of shooting back a scathing retort, she ignored him and got down to business.  
  
"There is no way we will last long in our current state. We have to digivolve, or get off this plane. Preferably both. Any suggestions?" Pokomon asked.  
  
"Hey you guys, don't you forget that MarineAngemon here is a Mega level, and if trouble comes along he can take care of it!" Gummymon said, with obviously forced cheerfulness. He couldn't even get a 'Moumantai' out.  
  
I hate to say this, but I'm much weaker than before we landed. The only reason I didn't dedigivolve is because I'm a Mega level, but that just means that I had that much more energy to lose. Fact is, I'm not sure if I'm much stronger than you guys are now, MarineAngemon sighed.  
  
"Great, so our last hope was a pink pixie who can't even fight any more? And now we don't even have that??" Yaamon gripped to himself.  
  
"Hey you guys, stop fighting, we have to stick together in a situation like this. Didn't we just spend days fighting the D-Reaper together?" Gigimon reminded them all, and continued, "Calumon, can you help us to digivolve?"  
  
"Oh gosh, I almost forgot all about that! Let me see what I can do," and with that Calumon held his paws together and stared to hum. The markings on his head began to glow, and energy filled the room. Just before the red light hit it's climax of brightness, suddenly there was an ebb in the power emanating from Calumon. His body visibly sagged while the power he had been generating dispersed uselessly into the air. As his strength drained out of him, Calumon collapsed as the markings on his head returned to normal. Everybody stood frozen, until Hopmon bounced over and helped him up.  
  
"...What the HELL was that?" Yaamon finally yelled.  
  
Calumon looked dazed, trying to get his bearings as the cave spun around him. "Ugh, I don't feel so good you guys. My head hurts," Calumon said, and the effort it took to talk seemed to drain him even more. As he started to collapse again, Hopmon helped him up and MarineAngemon led him back down to the waterhole.  
  
While this was going on, Pokomon had been thinking. 'So this is how the Juggernaut program effected Calumon. Since he had no lower level to dedigivolve to, his ability to digivolve other creatures must have been damaged. Or perhaps his energy is just too low to use it effectively.' "Since we can't digivolve yet, and since we have no real muscle behind us, I suggest we wait here until we all get our strength fully back and then move on. But I still can't believe that we will never see our partners again," Pokomon lamented. 'I don't know what I'll do without Ruki now, my entire life revolved around her, first her as her partner in battle then as her friend...I miss her more than I thought I could...And it hasn't even been a whole day yet.'  
  
"Yeah, I don't know what I'll do without Ryo...We spent years together...where are we going to go from here?" Hopmon contemplated. "I don't mean where will we actually go, I mean, what are we going to without our tamers?" The question hung in the air like a fog, clouding over the minds of the small digimon. Even Yaamon, usually the cynical sarcastic one was being serious.  
  
"Well I don't think it matters, I know that I'll see Takato again," Gigimon declared, lifting his chin up.  
  
"And how do you know that?" Chocomon asked.  
  
"Because he promised we could play together again, that's all!" Gigimon replied, very self-confident.  
  
'Gee, I don't know if it will go along as smoothly as he thinks...but I don't want to crush his dream, we're going to need that kind of motivation,' Chocomon thought. "But how can we get back to them?" Chocomon asked, "even though I hated her little treatments, playing house and such, I still miss Suichon."  
  
"Yeah, and though I hate to admit it, those two little kids, Ai and Makato started to grow on me," Yaamon put in, "I never really got the chance to have a real tamer like you guys all did."  
  
Pokomon stopped quietly observing and finally said, "So is that it then? Do you all want to get back to them?" As everybody nodded, (or for some leaned forward and back again).  
  
"Great, lets go!" Kapurimon exclaimed, starting for the entrance of the cave.  
  
Pokomon stopped him, saying, "It is not as simple as that."  
  
"What do you mean?" Kapurimon asked, his tail twitching in irritation at having his momentum thrown off.  
  
"What I mean is," Pokomon explained, "Is that we can no longer exist in the real world. Because of the Juggernaut program, we were all altered so that we cannot stay where we are not constantly surrounded by data. Without it, our bodies will continue to weaken until we are deleted entirely."  
  
"Oh...well...then how the hell am I supposed to see Ai and Makato again? And what about everybody else? And Juri, I just can't believe that she'll just make a miraculous recovery from that whole incident." Yaamon worried to himself. He thought of the look in her eye when she forgave him, that almost empty look in her eyes as she nodded...He had been too happy she had forgiven him that he hadn't given it much thought at the time. But on second thought, he wondered how much she had recovered, or if she had at all. Plus she had all those issues with her dad to work out...  
  
"Moumantai everybody! We'll figure out a way!" Gummymon said, Interrupting Yaamon's unhappy thoughts. Forcing a smile, Gummymon tried to convince himself in the face of mountains of evidence against him that he'd be able to get back to Jen.  
  
"Yeah, I'm with Gummymon," Gigimon seconded.  
  
"Well I hate to say this but It's unrealistic to think we can just waltz back to the real world and I think we all see that," Pokomon said, swishing her tail as if that ended the conversation, "So the only thing we can do now is to build up our strength and prepare to go out and seek a passage to the only ones who could truly help us."  
  
"Who's that?" a tired Calumon asked, being helped back into the cave by MarineAngemon.  
  
Pokomon paused, taking her own advice and settling back down for a nap, before replying, "The Digimon Sovereign."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Well there's the end of chapter 1. I have a pretty good idea as to how this is going to go on, but good advice is always welcome, so write me a review if you so wish. Next chapter coming up soon, but I have an encyclopedia entry to write, plus a reflection on two books I haven't yet read, so I may get tied up some time soon. Until then, moumantai! 


	2. Unrest

~*~Disclaimer~*~  
  
I don't own Digimon itself, or characters associated with it. But if I make one of them up I own his/her/it's name and characteristics. The same goes for other new characters. Odds are I wont in this story, but I will someday. ') I also own chapter names, unless somebody sues me because they though of it first, but rest assured, I tried to be original. Same goes for story titles.  
  
I still don't get any money for this stuff...  
  
This one will be pretty deep folks, not nearly as casual as the last one.  
  
  
  
Thanks for dealing with me everybody, and remember to R&R!  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 2: Unrest  
  
Lee Jenrya tossed and turned in his bed. Ever since he and the rest of the tamers had been forcibly separated from their digimon partners, he had extreme difficulty sleeping. After that fateful afternoon, where triumph had given way to despair, he had not been the same person. He had acting irrational and overly emotional about odd things, which was unusual from him. He was usually the calm one, often being the buffer between Ruki and Takato, settling disputes and ending arguments. He had prevented them from battling their digimon against each other multiple times. Though they had both matured by time the D-Reaper came on the scene, he still found himself the balance between the two extremes that were Ruki and Takato.  
  
But now he could hardly reason with himself. Nothing his counselors, mother, or sister said could help him. He had barely spoken to his father, since his betrayal. He might never trust his father again, after what he did that to the tamers and their digimon. The world had to be saved, but Jenrya simply couldn't believe that there was no other way. If only his father had looked harder. After a while, he had simply stopped letting people see his true feelings. He had hardened his heart to almost everybody, and rarely let his guard down.  
  
Still though, he often found his thoughts drifting off into his adventures, remembering the good times and the bad, and not just Terriermon drifted back from his memories. He would remember Guilmon's antics, and Terriermon's tactless retorts. He would remember how Terriermon and Lopmon were constantly tormented by the good natured, but occasionally insensitive sister of his. He would remember Monodramon's odd sense of humor, the small pink MarineAngemon's gibberish that the digimon and Kenta somehow understood perfectly, and Guardromon's awkward imitations of Hirokazu. Sometimes he thought of the quiet and mysterious Renamon, prone to appear without a sound and fade away like a leaf in the wind at any second. Sometimes, he even thought of that little troublemaker Impmon. But then he would remember that they were gone, out of his life forever, and whatever happiness the memories brought him would come crumbling down, leaving him more depressed than he had been before.  
  
That was it, sleep was impossible at that point. He simply couldn't settle his mind with all these turbulent thoughts bouncing around in his head. He got up, straitened his shorts and walked into the bathroom. After doing his business, he looked into the mirror. What he saw was the shadow of what was once both a warrior and partner to Terriermon. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, and disheveled hair. His eyes lacked the strength that people had once seen there, replaced by an darkness that reflected his thoughts. Like there was something in him that Terriermon had taken with him, a void in his heart that couldn't be filled. He looked downtrodden and generally very distraught.  
  
The one good thing that Jen saw was that his muscle tone had significantly improved since that day. In the months since the horrible day, he had put all his energy into his martial arts practice and his schoolwork. But his physical and his academic achievements only succeeded in making his parents think he was recovering, and getting over the loss. To Jenrya, they were empty achievements. He couldn't really share his accomplishments with the friends he had before he had met Terriermon, he hadn't been able to really relate to them since the incident, and they seemed almost frightened by the haunted look in his eyes. He spoke with the other tamers every now and then, a phone call, an e-mail, or he would see them in the park sometimes. But he kept his distance from all of them. Even Takato, who he had been closest with, though they still kept up pretty regular communication. It was hard not to, they went to the same school.  
  
He often thought up excuses for not seeing them. Some of them went to different schools, some of them he hadn't been very close with, they had their own problems, let them move on with their life, all these and more he thought of during the day. Here though, at night, when there was nobody to lie to, nobody to put on the mask of recovery for, and nobody but his true self to keep him company, he knew the true reason for not being with them.  
  
Fear. He was afraid. Afraid that he would see the same suffering in their eyes and that he would have to deal with their grief as well, or worse. He might see that they were getting better, and genuinely recovering from the loss. That he was weak and sick for how he was reacting. He could put his life on the line, fighting side-by-side or even merged with Terriermon against countless Digimon, the D-Reaper and it's agents. But now he couldn't even face his own friends, his comrades in arms, the ones he had gone through hell with and emerged. He was nothing but a coward.  
  
These thoughts darkened his mind as he walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of milk. He finished it off and put it in the sink, not bothering to rinse it out. He didn't want to wake his parents up and have them see him in this state. As he passed his sister's room on his way back to his own, Jenrya saw his sister Suichon in her bed, and could tell that she had been crying again. She had dark rims under her eyes that plainly signaled her distress. In her hand, closely held to her chest she held a picture of Lopmon she had drawn, after putting her in one of her old dresses. Next to her bed, in a handmade frame, there was Suichon's first and only modify card. 'At least she's open about her feelings,' Jenrya thought.  
  
He reentered his room and saw his own memento of his digimon, a small picture of himself and Terriermon, together in the park, happy and confidant. The Jenrya in the picture looked massively different than the Jenrya that stared at it. Jenrya's eyes began to mist up as he thought about his lost friend, the trust and the bond that he had taken for granted. Now that Terriermon was gone, he might never be that person again. "Look what has become of me Terriermon," Jenrya spoke to the picture and to himself, "I've become a coward. A goddamned coward. I miss you."  
  
With that he shed his own tears of sorrow.  
  
~*~  
  
Shuichon waited until her brother went back to his room, and then rolled over. wiping her eyes, she held the picture of Lopmon to the light from the window, and stared at it. "Lopmon, why did you have to go? I don't know what to do without you," she said as her tears fell anew. She could hear her brother talking to the picture again from the other room. During the day, her brother seemed quiet and normal, seemingly on the road to recovery. But late at night, when she heard his muffled sobs Shuichon knew better than that. He was worse off than she was. Though she too had been greatly effected. Since that fateful day, she found herself prone to sudden tears, coming when least expected and least welcome.  
  
This was one of those times, staining her pillow with tears as she cried herself to sleep.  
  
~*~  
  
Ruki sat alone in her bedroom, looking out into the garden through the back door. The moon reflected in the small pond, the stars glinting like thousands of diamonds had been scattered along the surface, along with the tree that her partner had spent much time perched in at night. She sat with her knees under her chin next to her table, in a overlong light blue nightgown. Her reddish brown hair, usually up for practicality's sake, now cascading down around her shoulders.  
  
Since Renamon had been ripped from her protective arms, and sucked into the digital world along with her all of her friends' digimon, Ruki had reverted somewhat into her old self. She reestablished her colder exterior, and though she was less calloused to her mother and grandmother than before her time with the tamers, their relationship had taken a blow since the implementation of the Juggernaut program.  
  
Ruki often wished she could be more friendly with her family, but nothing they could say would help, not even a piece of her grandmother's sage advice. Renamon was her redeemer, she had seen the worst and the best of Ruki, and stuck with her through it all. With Renamon, Ruki didn't feel the need to shut people out and stick to her own cold ambitions. With Renamon she had gained the unthinkable for an, "Ice Queen," such as herself. Friends. She had put her life on the line for them and had come out victorious. In the end, it was warmth and friendship that had triumphed over adversity, not the cold, unthinking dedication to battling that had originally been her approach to life.  
  
But without Renamon, Ruki was lost. Her life no longer had purpose, and substance. Card battling had almost become a chore, there was no longer a challenge. The one who could possibly have given her a run for her money was Ryo, and his friends and family saw him almost as much as they saw the back of their own heads. Plus the entire world had seen the televised battles between the D-Reaper and herself, everybody knew what had happened, how she had become one with Renamon and fought for the livelihood of humanity itself. There was no comparing that to a simple card battle, she and everybody who hadn't been under a rock when the D-Reaper devastated Japan and most other places all over the world knew it. The whole world knew that she was a hero, and she got no satisfaction from that either. There was no challenge for her in any real area except school, which she didn't overly concern herself with, or in looks. And therein lay another problem.  
  
In the months since the day Lee's father had taken Renamon from her, she had been going through the changes her air-headed preppy classmates had been both looking forward to and dreading. She had never paid her body much heed. Before she had met Renamon it simply never occurred to her. While she had been first battling with Renamon she had only viewed it as another tool to be used towards becoming the best, (though in retrospect she realized that she was no longer even sure of what she wanted to be the best at) and even after had been too busy in her adventures in the digital world, or her battles with the D-Reaper's agents to really think about such matters. But now, with her body in a state of flux, somewhere between childhood and womanhood, she had nobody to turn to. She couldn't talk to her mother, because when she tried she only saw it as an opportunity to do more modeling, or would give her a talk about the, "Joys of being a woman," which just sickened her. Neither could she turn to her grandmother, who would take an old-fashioned approach to the whole situation and probably mix her up more than would help. The male tamers were out, she had opened up to them but she still had her pride. She would not humiliate herself by asking a boy about her feminine maturation. That only left Shuichon, who was only six and didn't need to hear about such things, and Juri, who had more than enough problems for one person to handle.  
  
It was times like these that she missed Renamon the most. The little tingle in the back of her mind signaling her presence had always been a reassurance, a sign that even though she was going through tough times she would never be alone. She had the most unique bond with her digimon, unlike the others. She shared with Renamon an emotional bond even before they had first bio-merged. Even before she could truly call Renamon a friend she could sense her emotions, and sometimes even tell what she was thinking through that mask of mysterious detachment. Ruki's thoughts even effected Renamon sometimes. During their first battles, Ruki's cold efficiency and ruthlessness effected Renamon's attitude towards battle and how she finished off opponents. Guilmon and Takato had a similar bond, but there were some differences. They had a creator to creation kind of bond, where they got along very well and had similar mannerisms. But still, they weren't totally alike. They sometimes had trouble understanding each other, and sometimes even hurt each other, like when Juri's Leomon had been destroyed and Takato's rage had caused Guilmon to digivolve into the dark Megidramon. But Renamon and her shared a different bond, almost as if their minds fit each other like puzzle pieces, both bent in opposing ways, but together fitting perfectly and creating a stronger, better whole.  
  
But now her other half was gone, and she felt herself like a broken puzzle piece. Alone without the support of others, and not being part of the whole picture she had been destined to help complete. Near the end of their time together she and Renamon had been as close as Ruki had ever been with anybody. She had little trouble sharing her problems with her, even without Renamon sensing them before she said anything. Their intuition with each other was uncanny. Ruki was also sure that she could talk openly with Renamon about her physical situation as well. Renamon was more feminine than most humans that she knew, and, Ruki thought with a smile, had better curves than even her mother, the supermodel that she was. She didn't flaunt it the same way her mother did either, she was so casual about it that few even noticed. Though Ruki had to admit, the only contact she had with other people was with the other tamers. And she doubted that any of them had viewed her way, and even if they, they would just write her off as only a digimon anyway.  
  
Once again she found herself painfully aware of the void in her mind that Renamon had usually filled. Here eyes wandered to the leather belt that hung on her dresser, the small pouch for modify cards empty. And in the drawer it hung on, she knew that her digivice, sacred to her as anything she owned, lay amongst her old Digimon cards and memorabilia, the compass eternally spinning at blinding speed. The thing was not programmed to believe that the tamer it belonged to and their digimon could be separated by an entire world. It only served to remind her that though Renamon was alive somewhere, they couldn't be together.  
  
She spent most of that night, staring out at the stars and remembering lost friendship and lost love.  
  
Her digivice continued to look for it's digimon.  
  
~*~  
  
During the day, Takato went to school. He studied hard and got decent grades. After school he went to the park, played games with his friends, and joked about the day's goings on. But late at night, something ate at him. Something burned at his very soul, something that he couldn't let go.  
  
It was guilt. He had made a promise that he was beginning to think he couldn't keep. In the months since he had saved Juri and lost Guilmon, he had begun to move on with his life. Most would think this healthy and right, but in the back of his mind, Takato couldn't accept that fact. He couldn't live with himself if he didn't do something. He often walked by the park, sometimes thinking he might just spot Guilmon where he used to live. It bad become a sort of ritual for him. But his hopes were in vain. And guilt reared it's ugly head once again.  
  
Takato had unwittingly created a living, breathing creature. One that he had taught and cared for since his first days alive. He had grown to love Guilmon like a parent loves a child. And he had lost that child, perhaps prematurely. Since the first day, it had been his responsibility to protect and nurture Guilmon, but he had been taken away and Takato blamed himself. Though he could rescue Juri from something that could consume the entire human race, he couldn't rescue Guilmon from the effects of Juggernaut. And sometimes he even thought that he might be able to live without Guilmon. It was days like those the guilt ate at him the worst.  
  
He wondered how long he could keep doing this to himself. As he stared out the window, it began to rain. Though he was so self-involved that he barely noticed.  
  
~*~  
  
Ryo wandered the streets, among those who couldn't sleep. As he walked past parked cars, empty shops, and darkened houses, his body shuddered with rage. Rage at his loss and rage at his father. He was almost as angry at his dad for his, "good riddance to bad rubbish," attitude about his partner as he grieved his loss. The rain that he felt start to patter against his clothing only served to intensify the frustration he felt in his very core.  
  
~*~  
  
Some might say though, that those who suffered from insomnia were better off than those who were subjected to the emotions and images brought up by their subconscious. Those who lay in dream were subjugated to whatever their minds could come up with, be it good or bad. And for the tamers that either could no longer stay conscious or those who had some, "assisted," sleep, it wasn't usually good.  
  
Hirokazu lay on his bed, fully clothed and out cold. His face was tense and anxious, as images of people shrinking occupied his mind, bouncing around in his cranium. He smacked his hand on the bedpost, a bruise he would discover later, in the morning. Next to his bed, on a small foldable table lay a model kit of a robot.  
  
Makato and Ai rested in their parents bed, prone to kicking and whacking their parents as their dreams were acted out with their bodies. in their dream, there was a small apple. The apple lay in a mist that they seemed to be unable to penetrate, and every time they reached for the apple it disappeared and moved to another place. Time after time the apple eluded them, until finally they worked together to grab the apple at the same time. And when their efforts finally paid off, and the apple rested in their hands, they were afraid to loose it. The held it very close, and very tight. But they saw that as they clutched the apple, it shrunk and withered, until it was nothing but dust. The dust ran through their fingers, and when it hit the ground it only made the mist darker.  
  
Kenta was busy having his own dream about longing. In his dream, all his friends received small glass animals. One by one, his friends all seemed to be getting these little trinkets, and he began to get jealous. Then he began to see that other people had the same glass animals, and that he was the only one without one of them. Finally, he noticed a small glass animal, hovering in the void in front of him. But he was unable to get there, it seemed that he couldn't run. It was like he was breathing underwater, and the pressure was simply to much for him to overcome. Finally, he kicked off the wall behind him, and diving, reached for his prize, his glass animal to call his own. But in his haste, he slipped and the trinket fell, and shattered. Suddenly he couldn't breathe, and all his friends were laughing at him. As he writhed in his bed, a glass of water he had knocked over in his sleep lay broken on the floor. When he woke he would not remember the dream, but the image of the wet broken pieces of glass on the floor would haunt him all the next day.  
  
Asleep on her keyboard, lay a petite blond girl in a dark dress. Whatever Alice had been writing in her word processor was replaced by the same letter, over and over again, her elbow pressing against the keyboard. Her dreams were not as vivid as the others'. She floated in a black space, empty of anything but herself. She knew that the space was meant to occupy something, but for some reason could not remember. She wracked her brains trying to remember, but she came up short. She began to scream in her dream, to scream and scream and scream, to fill the void, but not even an echo answered back. She was shaken awake by her grandfather who had been woken up by her moaning.  
  
~*~  
  
One person had it the worst though. Juri lay in a small bed, the sheets moist and tangled around her body as she thrashed about in her restless sleep. Perspiration beaded of her brow as she lay in a cold sweat. She could see two digimon fighting, and she screamed for them to stop, even though she couldn't see who or what they truly were. As she neared them, she saw what looked to be two identical Beezlemons fighting in hand to hand combat. Their spiked fingers clawed at each other, leaving deep gashes, and data streamed from these vicious wounds. The gruesome sight made her scream for them to stop again, despite her reservations against it and her will to see her old friend avenged. But they paid her no heed. A voice behind her said, "I can end this you know."  
  
Juri tried to turn to see the owner of the voice, the voice that sounded eerily like her own, but found herself incapable of pulling her eyes away from the scene, like they were magnetized to the two battling digimon. "Did you know that one of them is here to save you? The other is trying to prevent him from doing so," the voice continued, "And I can kill one of them. Any one you choose, you can even look at it like you're sparing one's life. They would destroy each other anyway."  
  
"No, I couldn't do that, it would be wrong to sentence either of them to death. I don't want to do it," Juri replied, tears beginning to stream down their face as the battle raged on, both looking closer and closer to death, but neither gaining the upper hand.  
  
"Well I'm afraid you have to pick one of them dear, or else I'll be forced to destroy both of them, right in front of you, and then I'll finish you off as sort of a grand finale," The voice threatened.  
  
Juri thought about this, precious seconds of one of the digimon's life ticking away as they drained each other's life away. "Please, end this," Juri finally pleaded, "I can't stand this any longer. That one," she pointed to the one on the left. That one suddenly was impaled by the other, the one she had chosen to be the victor, and as his data dissipated into the air, his form changed, and she could see that it was Leomon, her lost beloved partner, not Beezlemon that she had sentenced to death. As he fell to the ground, he stared at her with accusing eyes, the beautiful blue eyes that had once gazed upon her with love. Then in a puff of data, he was gone, and the Beezlemon began to laugh. It was the laugh of a child. It was her own laugh, the one she had not heard in months, though now twisted and evil.  
  
She woke with a start, sitting straight up in bed, gasping, as her body was taken by body wracking sobs of regret.  
  
~*~  
  
While all this was going on, in various safe places, eight digivice compasses spun, forever looking for something they wouldn't find in this world. Another lay dormant in the sweaty palm of a weeping girl.  
  
  
  
  
  
Yikes, this was an awfully emotional chapter now wasn't it? Not bad for my first fanfic, eh? As you've probably all noticed, the tamers and their digimon are not currently being written about at the same time. That'll change pretty soon, the digimon just have some catching up to do on the timeline. Remember to review! I'm now accepting anonymous reviews, so observers wont need a name to leave their opinion. 


	3. Limitations

~*~Disclaimer~*~  
  
I don't own Digimon itself, or characters associated with it. But if I make one of them up I own his/her/it's name and characteristics. The same goes for other new characters. Odds are I wont in this story, but I will someday. ') I also own chapter names, unless somebody sues me because they though of it first, but rest assured, I tried to be original. Same goes for story titles.  
  
Still no money, and I'm wondering why I even bother copy/pasting this from my old chapters...  
  
Oh well, moumantai, it's better than a lawsuit.  
  
...who the hell would sue me for writing about digimon?  
  
Ok, I'm distracting myself, down to business then.  
  
Remember, this is all taking place after the digimon were sent back, but before the epilouge of the final episode. Not giving away too much, that'll be when the two timelines catch up. I messed up Suzie's age in chapter 1, but it should be fixed by the time you're reading this.  
  
  
  
Remember to R&R!  
  
  
  
Chapter 3: Limitations  
  
Though the digimon held no illusions about the difficulty involved in digivolving without a tamer, they often found themselves becoming very frustrated with the tediousness of their day to day life. Since the first day, they had all been physically training themselves, using their mediocre special attacks against each other, pushing each other to the limits of their data and their patience. It had been a long time since any of them had been in their In-Training forms. Worse, some of the digimon, Guilmon the most obviously, had never even been in their new (or old from another perspective) bodies. They had the most trouble though with simply learning the new limits of their forms. Often times, they found themselves simply unable to practice, not from being barraged by too many third-rate attacks, but because they were just tired. They seemed to be sleeping more, and as a consequence, they got less work done.  
  
The two that were most frustrated however were Calumon and MarineAngemon. Calumon hated watching their endurance practices, or their speed training. He sometimes took part, but it was only really to delay the steady progress of boredom. He really had nothing to do in the group, he couldn't even help when they focused all their attacks on one digimon to try to coax a sort of, "desperation digivolution," because he HAD no attack. MarineAngemon found himself useful at least in training the others up, because even though he was taking abnormally long time to recuperate his fighting strength, he was, by two weeks since their landing, superior to the others by far.  
  
The tediousness of the whole situation seemed to be getting to them the worst. They voiced their complaints on deaf ears regularly.  
  
After a longer endurance routine than usual, a battered and exhausted Pokomon said, "This has got to stop, we're making no progress." She was right. Though it had been three weeks, the seven training digimon showed little signs of ability improvement or their goal, digivolution.  
  
"This is like a bad recurring nightmare, I thought I was done with this crappy solo training when I got back together with my tamers," Yaamon complained.  
  
"Let's just take the rest of the day off, we're all too exhausted to any good now, and I can tell you that my data is stretched to the limit," Gummymon said. "Lets rethink our strategy tomorrow, I for one need some rest."  
  
They all concurred, and settled down for a much deserved sleep. As the digital sun set and the last of them drifted off into the oblivion of sleep, off in the distance a light flickered against the horizon. As darkness overtook the land completely, the light followed suit and winked out of existence.  
  
~*~  
  
The next day they woke, not expecting much, frustrated at their inability to advance their power to the limit of digivolution. As they all dug themselves in by the waterhole for a long debate, Gigimon simply stated, "We're getting nowhere with this training."  
  
"Well then how do you suppose we advance from here tomato face?" an irritated Hopmon asked.  
  
"I-I don't know..." Gigimon replied, his attempt at leadership shot down by the little pointy digimon.  
  
"Well one thing is obvious, and that we aren't going to digivolve this way," Chocomon said, "and the only other thing that could help us are the sovereign. But we need to digivolve to get to the sovereign!"  
  
"Yes. Though it should have occurred to me earlier that this wouldn't have worked from the start. Ruki and I tried this once before, when we first started off as partners, all we did was battle and absorb data, thinking that once I became strong enough I would be able to digivolve. But it was only when Ruki was in danger, or when she was helping me could I become Kyuubimon," Pokomon concluded.  
  
"Well then why didn't you say anything BEFORE WE WORKED FOR WEEKS ON SOME STUPID FRUITLESS VENTURE LIKE THIS???" the usually docile, but now suddenly angry Kapurimon shouted.  
  
A startled Gummymon managed to slip in a, "Moumantai!! Calm down!," Before Pokomon continued.  
  
"Do you remember your digivolution into your rookie form?" Pokomon simply asked.  
  
"Why do you want to know?" A now confused, defensive Kapurimon responded with a question of his own.  
  
"Just asking, it may help. How did you do it?" Pokomon asked again.  
  
"Um-well-I don't exactly remember..." Kapurimon responded, thoroughly chastened after his outburst by his own forgetfulness.  
  
"As I thought. Can any of you remember? Anything about how you did it? Or where you were born? No Gigimon, you don't count," Pokomon drilled, silencing the uppity digimon. Slowly, they all one by one shook their heads no, and Pokomon smiled at her discovery. "Neither do I. I think that our forms aren't meant to remember too many things, we're like simple programs that are meant to work with a single mindedness that our later forms wouldn't need. But since we've been dedigivolved forcefully, from much more complicated beings, we must be only partially effected. Like it's a temporary condition that we can fight off. This would explain how we worked for three weeks without questioning our actions, and forgetting simple little things. Our basic instincts must have taken over."  
  
"Well how is this supposed to help us fox face?" Yaamon asked.  
  
"I'm not sure yet. Can any of you remember anything from your early lives? What about you Chocomon, you used to be a servant the Sovereign before, can't you remember ever being in your in training form?" Pokomon asked.  
  
"No, not exactly. All I specifically remember was working as one of their Devas for the longest time, and that they gave me the power to become Antilamon," Chocomon scratched her head, "But I do have some images of my early life, only flashes really. For some reason the image of a room with round orbs in it keeps popping up in my head. And some flashing light. But I don't remember seeing the place before, ever. It's as if the memory doesn't belong to me."  
  
"That's weird..." Gigimon trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.  
  
"What's odd?" Gummymon inquired.  
  
"Well, I've been getting that image in my head for a while now too," Gigimon continued, "It's been floating around in my head since yesterday."  
  
"Now that you mention it, that sounds familiar to me too," Hopmon remembered, "I can remember something just like it."  
  
"Great, so at least I'm not the only one going nuts, good thing too," Yaamon quipped.  
  
"Are you remembering too?" Pokomon asked.  
  
The little purple and brown digimon winked at Pokomon and sarcastically said, "You're a smart digimon, can't you figure something that easy out?" laughing as he dodged Pokomon's swinging tail. In the process though, he rolled into a small ditch in the floor and had to be helped out by Calumon. Having no limbs had certain disadvantages.  
  
"I guess the real question now is, why have we all just started to remember this? And why did it never come to us when we were with our tamers?" Lopmon added.  
  
Their argument continued on, well into the afternoon, until Kapurimon suddenly interrupted one of Yaamon's rants with, "Wait! Now that I'm thinking about it, if Gigimon was created by Takato and the Digi-Gnomes, how could he possibly remember that room? His entire life has been spent in his rookie form or higher until recently."  
  
The speculations flew, and the argument went on. The sun began to wane, drifting towards the horizon.  
  
~*~  
  
In west Shinjuku, one world and several months from the argument under the setting digital sun, trouble brewed in the minds and lives of the lonely tamers.  
  
Takato walked at a brisk pace towards his destination. It was a cold day in an increasingly cold season, and Takato had once again failed to recognize before he left the bakery that cold weather required warmer clothing. His mind was busy with other matters though, his thoughts drifted along all too familiar but still unfriendly pathways. Thoughts of Guilmon and the digimon, Jenrya, Ruki, and the other tamers.  
  
And about the place he was going to. He quickened his pace, pulling the collar of his shirt up higher and ducking his head into it slightly to blunt the biting wind. Though the summer was only just ending, the cold had come unexpectedly and quite early. It rarely got this cold, even for the abnormally cold fall, and on a day like this a frost or snowflake falling from the sky wouldn't surprise him. With a shiver and a start he realized that he had arrived at her door.  
  
She had missed school that day, and Takato had only been told by her father that she refused to answer the phone. This had worried him, because he was the closest person to Juri that he knew. Her father simply couldn't talk to her sensitively, and was still sure that the only way to get through a problem was to get through it yourself. Though, Takato thought, he couldn't really still believe that. Not after how he attacked the D- Reaper armed only with a stolen truck and his own locked away tears. Takato supposed that if he really believed in that he wouldn't let Takato over when she was in trouble anyway.  
  
Juri's house, adjoined to her family restaurant was rather large-not comparing with the luxury of Ruki's mansion, but still leaving one with plenty of space to roam, and to find solitude. Though, Takato thought grimly, solitude wasn't hard to find these days. He entered the main yard of the residence and knocked on the main door. Juri's father answered, and admitted him with his usual controlled serious face. But Takato saw something more in his eyes, a deep concern for his daughter, a worry that he kept tightly in check. But the feelings were there. Takato wondered if Juri saw them, or if she was so blinded by the past that she couldn't feel them. He wondered how much of the assault on the D-Reaper she remembered anyway; whenever he, or anybody for that matter, tried to bring it up she simply clamped down on her teeth and stopped talking for a while. Takato hoped she remembered how her father offered to be taken in place of her, so that she might be saved. Something like that shouldn't go unremembered.  
  
She sat alone in an empty room, staring at the opposite wall. She was pale, quiet, and visibly shaken. Something had happened. Takato rushed over to her and held her in his arms as she began to weep. Unfortunately many visits had started up this way for the two of them. In school she put on the same face that he did, the one of normalcy and recovery. Here though, with Takato, she showed how hurt she truly was. Dreams were the worst for Juri, she was constantly plagued by nightmares involving Leomon and Beezlemon. She also sometimes mentioned when she spilled out the contents of her battered psyche some, "voice behind me," but every time he tried to get more out of her about it he was shot down. She would clam up and curl up like she had during the D-Reaper incident. He had begun to just let her vent, and simply try to help her with what she presented him. It seemed the best way to comfort her. If she wanted to tell him more she would, in time.  
  
Takato didn't know if he should be reassured that she let him this close to her, or worried that he was the only one she revealed this to. Of course, Takato never spoke of his own grief, his own pain. Juri had enough on her plate.  
  
She began to rant almost incoherently about two Beezlemons fighting and Leomon. This was a newer version of an older reoccurring dream. She had told him it many times, in many ways. Though one thing struck him as odd. The voice that she sometimes spoke of was actually mentioned several times in the telling. He had never heard her speak of it so much, and it hadn't come up in this context before. She also went deeper into detail, saying it sounded almost just like her. Takato was worried at this. The D- Reaper had used her voice as it's own until it's very end, when Juggernaut sucked their foe into the digital world in it's most simple, basic form, and doomed the tamers and their digimon to their current fate.  
  
He tried to coax more information out of her. Stupid move, she only cried harder, and became impossible to understand. Something about that voice had disturbed her, deeply and dramatically. She might have begun to remember more from that time. Takato hoped that would be a step in the right direction instead of one more source of nightmares.  
  
She cried quietly into his chest, calming down after a while. He rocked her back and forth, whispering reassurances and trying to sooth and quiet her as best he could. She needed rest, real rest from all this. She hadn't gotten a decent night's sleep since Leomon had been killed, and it was taking it's toll.  
  
He continued to comfort her until she drifted into an exhausted sleep, in his arms. It was as close to real rest as she had come in a long time.  
  
~*~  
  
Takato waited for a while, rocking her sleeping form in his arms until he was sure she was asleep deeply enough to be moved. He picked her sleeping form up in both arms and took her out of the room. He carried her past her father, and though his stolid face revealed little to anybody, Takato was sure he could see appreciation in his eyes. The scene reminded him all to much of his saving Juri from the D-Reaper. Though, when he had last carried her like this, it was a momet of triumph instead of despair. Takato wondered as he carried her to her room where Juri's stepmother was. The resteraunt was closed today, so she couldn't be tending to customers. He gently placed her in her own bed, recently made, and made sure she was comfortable.  
  
She whimpered in her sleep, and mumbled something that Takato couldn't make out. A little stuffed lion lay next to her, and she unconsciously reached out and held it to herself tightly. Watching her, guilt came over Takato again, and he wished he could do more for her. She opened herself up to him the most, but still she kept things from him. He couldn't help her more unless she decided to trust him completely. He had pulled her out of the core of the D-Reaper itself, and she still didn't trust him enough to tell him everything. Though, he thought, you rarely will meet the person you bare your soul to this early in life.  
  
Though they had to mature much faster, and much more dramatically than most kids their own age, they whole group was still only ten and eleven. Shuichon, Ai and Makato were even younger. But how many adults had seen friends die before their very eyes, or had ensured the existence of the very human race? How many adults had to deal with being an international hero and still feel like this? How many adults had to watch their friends live in pain, bend backwards from expectations and slip away right before them and not be able to do anything about it?  
  
He could tell that his friends were all effected by it as well. Hirokazu and Kenta were probably the ones that had gotten off the easiest. Though that wasn't saying much. They had been with their digimon for the shortest time out of all nine tamers, excluding Alice because Takato still wasn't sure where she stood, and had spent most of their time with them arguing with each other and being their normal selves. They had changed by their digimon, Hirokazu becoming more responsible and Kenta standing up for himself more often, but not as dramatically as the others had. Ruki, Ryo, Jenrya and himself had fought the last fight with their digimon, in the most intimate sense. Hirokazu and Kenta couldn't relate to their trial and their difficulty. They experienced pain from their loss, but not as badly as some of the others had.  
  
The one he knew the least about was Alice, she had come and gone from their lives in a flash, as had the life of the one who seemed to be her digimon, Dobermon, as he sacrificed his life to allow the digimon to bio- merge in the real world. He didn't know who she was, her family name, where she lived or how she was handling her loss. She was the shadow of the tamers, lingering in the dark corners of their memory. Guilt and gratitude came and went with her memory and that of her digimon, who she seemed as close to as any of the rest of the tamers.  
  
Whenever he called Ryo's house to check up on him, his father always sounded angry and said that Ryo was out again and he didn't know when he was coming back, so call back.  
  
Jenrya might be the worst off. Takato could see Jenrya's pain every day, though he hid it well. Hiding had become one of Jen's strong points, hiding from others and perhaps hiding from himself. During the early days of being tamers, and even after Jen's pacifist philosophy had passed he was a quiet guy. He was nowhere near as outrageous as Hirokazu, or as odd as Juri or Shuichon. Still, he participated and contributed much to their ragtag group of conflicting personalities and odd digimon. He had a calm, peaceful aura about him when he was with the group and his digimon, Terriermon. He often broke up the fights and was the mediator of the group. Takato had forgotten how many bombs Jenrya had diffused, or how many times he had stopped Ruki from taking a shot at him.  
  
Ruki.  
  
A name that had often popped into his mind when he least expected it. That girl that he saw at first as only a brash, competitive, calloused Ice Queen. But as they worked and fought together he began to see something deeper, the real Ruki that she had obviously tried so desperately to hide away. A side she had probably thought of as weak and vulnerable when they had first met. A courageous, polite, caring girl that he would have easily become friends with if she had only shown it when they had first met. In hindsight though, he believed that when they had first met she might have convinced herself the person she had shown during their final battles against the D-Reaper didn't even exist. Even she seemed surprised when she found out she could be kind.  
  
He often wondered how she was doing. He almost never saw her any more. She and the rest of the group had just seemed to slip away from each other. A passing glance in public was all most afforded each other these days. Hirokazu, Kenta, Jenrya, Juri and Takato all socialized to an extent with each other, after all, they went to the same school. But they still were separated in spirit. Ruki didn't have even that though, she went to her own all-girls school on the other side of town. He occasionally spotted her in the park, but that was about it.  
  
He hadn't spoken to her, or even really seen her close up in months. Though he had taken her for granted during their time together, he found himself missing her at odd times. For some reason though, he found picking up the phone and calling almost impossible. Every time he picked up the phone he put it back down or called somebody else. Something kept him from contacting her. There was nothing but his own odd fear that kept him from getting together with her.  
  
Juri whimpered in her sleep. Takato realized that he had been watching Juri sleep for quite some time. It was pretty late in the afternoon. Disturbed by the condition of his friends, his life and worried about Juri, Takato left the Katou residence and began the walk home.  
  
~*~  
  
The digimon fought and argued until the sun began to set. The discrepancy of Gigimon's memory was the main topic. Nobody really knew enough about the situation to really gauge the oddity. Yaamon thought that it was only a stupid digimon talking himself into believing that he remembered the room. "Probably just to belong, or something like that," he had said. Gummymon thought that they might just be remembering something from their adventure in the real world. That theory was quickly debunked, because they had all begun to remember it, and Chocomon hadn't been there for most of it. Even though he was the subject of the conversation, Gigimon was to bored and confused to really pay all that close attention. He began staring off into the sunset.  
  
"Wait, maybe it's like what you were talking about Pokomon," Gummymon suggested.  
  
"How do you mean?" Pokomon asked.  
  
"Well, like you said, we must have some basic instincts in this form. Creatures in the real world are born with something similar. But we aren't from the real world. We must have some set of preprogramming, like a computer or program. We are made up out of data after all," Gummymon summarized, looking rather smug for figuring something of importance out.  
  
"But why has the memory only just now started to surface?" Chocomon wondered  
  
"In the real world, instinct kicks in when it's needed for the survival of it's bearer," Gummymon supplied, "so for whatever reason, we need these memories. But how to use them is still up in the air."  
  
Gigimon continued to stare into the distance, at some point he couldn't quite pinpoint but somehow knew where it was. A bright light pierced his eyes from the horizon and even though it hurt, he couldn't look away. Suddenly some previously unnoticed pressure in the back of his head released, like a balloon suddenly deflating. Gigimon's mind rapidly and inadvertently relaxed. A soothing voice rung in his head and he began to feel himself drifting away, far away from his body.  
  
Meanwhile, as his mind had released it's hold, his body had tensed up. He began shaking and the other digimon finally took notice of his lack of attention. But as they looked into his eyes a frightening sight met them.  
  
His wide eyes had glazed over and turned black. Binary code flashed white across his eyes like they were mere computer monitors. As the digimon shook him violently, trying to return him to his senses, he collapsed. His mind was ripped back into its usual seat of power inside his body. He blinked the strange film from his eyes and looked around. Confused at what had happened, he passed out dead away onto the ground.  
  
~*~  
  
"That's it," Ruki pronounced to nobody but herself, "I can't take this any more!" Boredom had begun to take it's toll on her, worse than before she had met Renamon. The days of playing nothing but card games were bad enough, and now she couldn't even bring herself to even play that. Her last ones had been gathering dust in a drawer for quite a while, nothing compared to what she and her friends had experienced.  
  
Friends.  
  
That word that she had scoffed at for the better part of her life. For the longest time she had only viewed them as a hindrance to progress. She had avoided intimacy with even her family. Finally she had made friends and she had just stopped talking to them. The worst was with Takato. She thought about trying to get back with their makeshift leader and his friends. Something always kept getting in the way. School, family outings, functions, the infrequent but still horrible modeling sessions, the list went on.  
  
Poor excuses.  
  
She didn't really know why she didn't do it. All she knew right now was that lounging around the house was going to drive her insane. Her hair neatly pulled neatly behind her head, she shrugged her coat on and walked out the main door. With no clear destination in mind, she strode out the main gate and down the street.  
  
~*~  
  
Across town, two robed fighters practiced their martial arts. Recently the student had begun to really challenge the master. Though today, the student was slightly off. Locked in fierce combat, the student jumped and threw a fierce kick towards the teacher. His movements were for once sloppy, and looked amateur. The teacher easily locked up his ankle in mid air and spun him, smacking him face down into the mat.  
  
Standing over the coughing student, the teacher asked his student, "What is wrong with you today Jenrya? You are becoming predictable. I know you are better than this! Think your techniques through before you attack, and never project your moves as obviously as you were just now."  
  
"Yes Sensei, I will try harder," Jenrya responded dutifully.  
  
"Go on the defensive now. You must see how to predict my moves before you can stop me from predicting yours," Sensei said, and Jenrya changed his stance accordingly. Blow after blow was deflected by Jenrya, this was one of his favorite training exercises. A few hits got through, only taps really, but they served to determine Jen. He began to get back into his groove. For the first time in a while, Jenrya's mind cleared of all that had happened since the Digimon arrived in the real world. This was the one place he found peace. Slowly, he began to see an order and a rhythm to his Sensei's attacks. A definite pattern began to emerge in Jenrya's mind. As if it were actually happening, he saw that there would be an opening in the next set of attacks. As the Sensei threw an awkwardly angled punch to Jenrya's left kidney, Jen dodged the only way he could, right into it. The arc of the punch was deceptive, aiming for the chin instead of the side, and this would overextend his teacher's arm. As a look of surprise spread across Sensei's face, Jen swung his right leg past his teacher, kicked him in the back of his right knee, buckling it and dropping Sensei to his knees. Grabbing the teacher's upper right arm with his left, Jen pulled him further off balance and tapped the back of Sensei's head with his right elbow.  
  
For the first time Jenrya had bested his teacher in combat.  
  
Sensei hopped up and brushed himself off. "That was excellent Jenrya. Now you try to go on the offensive, and see how you fare against my techniques," Sensei challenged, a good natured smirk on his face. Jen bowed to his master and began his assault. He flew at his master, hoping to catch him off guard - no luck. Lee's first string of attacks was stopped with the simplest of motions from his master. Though Jen's height and physical limits were slowly diminishing in comparison to Sensei's, he had far less experience than his teacher. Soon it got to the point where Jen could only get one attack off at a time; Sensei was countering every first move that Jen made. If Jen threw a kick, Sensei threw his foot to one side and Jen's back was vulnerable. If he tried an uppercut, Sensei dodged and pulled up Lee's elbow, making his side and abs vulnerable. No matter what he did, Jen couldn't get through Sensei's defenses.  
  
Sensei began to really show off now. More and more elaborate techniques he used to defend himself, then suddenly using a basic grapple to stop one of Jen's most complicated attacks. The older man was just a little embarrassed, being defeated so quickly by a boy of such age. No-He must stop thinking of Jenrya as a boy. He had advanced past what most of his students had ever hoped to accomplish, and was even beginning to pose as a challenge to the teacher. He had risked his life to save billions, and all he had gotten as thanks was to have his partner taken away from him. And because of his own father...That must have been the worst for Jen. He had never been the same since the D-Reaper Incident. Though he had excelled in all school subjects and his martial arts-which Sensei could testify-he hadn't been the same kind-hearted boy that he had once trained.  
  
Putting his concentration back into the fight, Sensei felt the tide of the battle subtly shift in his favor. Jen was getting frustrated, and was no longer thinking about his moves. As move after move was blocked or reversed, Sensei tapped Jen on the part of the body where he would have gotten hit from, had Sensei been trying to hurt him. Each tap built pressure inside Jen-in a small area that had previously gone unnoticed, like a little water tank. It kept filling, slowly but surely, and now was reaching critical mass.  
  
Finally, Sensei stopped Jen's incoming fist simply by grasping it. Surprised at this move, Jen punched with his other hand, only to have that caught too. With a confidant smile, Sensei looked Jen straight in the eye as he kicked both feet into Jen's belly, and leaning back threw him against the wall.  
  
Jen's limp body fell down onto the floor. Sensei was worried that he had possibly hurt the boy a little too badly. Then Jen propped himself up on one arm. Pulling his near-spent body up, Jen felt something finally snap inside him. When he looked up, the form of his concerned teacher was replaced by that of his smirking father. A strange calm overtook Jen, and he got back into his stance.  
  
"Are you sure you want to go on Jen? You don't look so good," Sensei suggested. The look on Jenrya's face concerned him more than his physical condition though. It was something he had never seen before-like hate and cold fury had been frozen into a mask, a mask which Jenrya now wore. It was the face of a monster.  
  
What Jen heard was, "What, can't you keep up little boy? What would Terriermon think?"  
  
Jen faced off with his father, and began his assault again. His first kick was blocked, but barely. His father seemed to be moving in slow motion. He realized that he was tensing the muscles of the limb he used to attack beforehand, so he decided to throw his father off. He tensed the muscles in his right leg, and then punched with his left fist. Reaching to block what he thought would be a kick, he suddenly saw the fist flying at his face. His quick reflexes were all that saved him from a bad case of whiplash.  
  
Jen's vision blurred red. He was like an enraged bull, but his subconscious memories of his years of training guiding his blind rage.  
  
Attack after attack Lee threw his Father's way. Each was blocked slower than the last, or at least it seemed so in Lee's current state of mind. Finally one hit-the heal of Lee's foot found it's way into his Father's stomach. As his Father reeled from the blow, Lee took advantage of his injured state; he attacked again.  
  
Barely able to defend himself, Lee's father's face suddenly turned crimson. As blood gushed from the nose broken by Jen's open fist, Father's face melted into Sensei's, and Lee felt ashamed. He realized that if that open fisted punch had been a few degrees lower he would have shattered his Sensei's nose and sent the bone shards into his brain, killing him.  
  
Dumbstruck he stared, as his teacher struggled to compose himself. Finally he managed to utter, "What is wrong with you today Jen? First you cannot fight, then you seem to outdo yourself more than ever before. Then you become like a possessed man, insane without control of his mind and body. That isn't what I taught you Jen, you were taught to control your emotions and use them to guide your judgments, not let them control you!"  
  
"Sensei..." Jen trailed off. He felt his face go red and a wetness in his eye. No, not here. Not in front of Sensei, I've already put him through enough, he thought as he said, "I'm so sorry Sensei," he clasped his hands and bowed his head, "but I have to go, I cannot stay here any longer!"  
  
He rushed out the door. After that episode, the teacher first doubted the student. There was something wrong with the boy...no...man that was effecting him in more than just his casual fights.  
  
Though, thought Sensei as he bandaged his face, that battle was hardly casual.  
  
~*~  
  
Taking the long way home, Takato found himself in the park. Not really wanting to go home, or to go anywhere else for that matter, he wandered aimlessly down the many paths and trails that lead throughout the surprisingly large landscape. Walking down a random path, looking at the bricks and the dirt as he passed them, he felt a sudden aura. He looked up. Not surprisingly he found himself once again down the stairs from the place that Guilmon had once called home. He had often found himself accidentally, or unconsciously wandering down these paths to this spot. It had become sort of a ritual. He once again thought of the promise he had made his partner, that they would play again soon. He didn't know if he could keep that promise any more. He bad begun to almost lose hope, and that was the worst guilt for him.  
  
Down across the park, meandering through the trees and hedges of the park, Ruki wandered, the fall breeze blowing through the trees. She paused, taking in her surroundings. The leaves rustled rhythmically with the wind, and a few cherry blossoms floated about her. On another day Ruki would consider it Beautiful. Since she had been with Renamon, she had found she acquired an appreciation for natural beauty. Though her mother's ideas of beauty still often confused or sickened Ruki. She wondered if Renamon slept in any of these trees when she wasn't at her home. Or maybe during their brief separation. Another cold wind, stronger than the last chilled her. She hugged her coat tighter around her slim body, and walked on. The wind increased in intensity, and she ducked her head and began to jog on, hoping to hit a path. She knew this place so well after their adventures and debacles that she found more pleasure in walking through the less visited areas of the park.  
  
Suddenly the wind died down. She sighed in relief and looked around.  
  
He was there. In that place.  
  
She gazed at the back of Takato's standing form. He was a little taller, but she definitely recognized that goggle-head. From the slight hill she was on, she could see that he was staring up at Guilmon's old home. She wondered what he was doing there. Suddenly, the wind got back from it's break and started to blow violently again. Takato hugged himself and rubbed his arms. His bare arms.  
  
"What is that idiot doing out here without a coat?" she mumbled to herself. She wanted to walk forward and give him her own coat, but something stopped her. What was wrong with her? Did she want to see him or not? Thoughts crashed around in her head as she noticed another person running towards Takato. A man, was running down the path in the distance, seeming to be choosing random paths. He was dressed in a martial arts uniform...in fact one that she had seen before. Lee had worn that same outfit a few times when he was with his Sensei. In fact, this man even had black hair, and as the light caught it she almost thought it was blue.  
  
Ruki gasped as she realized that the man she had been looking at was actually Lee himself. She would recognize that hair and that serious face anywhere. He sure had changed since they had lest spoken. Seeing his lean well muscled arms amazed her...she didn't see how somebody could make so drastic a change. Though, she thought with a sardonic smile, he isn't the only one who's made some changes since the D-Reaper.  
  
The two met and seemed to have a quick conversation. Lee looked up at Guilmon's house and shrugged. Lee said something to Takato, who suddenly jumped and ran off. Jenrya walked on, a little more composed. Walking along with his hands behind his back and head bowed, he seemed to become lost in his own thoughts.  
  
She finally walked forward past the tree line and caught his eye. Snapped out of his reverie, he walked over.  
  
"Hey Ruki, been a long time," he timidly extended his hand.  
  
She took it and asked, "Yeah, how long has it been exactly?"  
  
"At least a few months. We weren't out of our first semester when we met, now we're in the third. It's been almost a year since we first started..." he trailed off, thinking about Terriermon again.  
  
"You've changed. You must really be working hard with your martial arts to get the way you are now," Ruki said.  
  
"You've changed yourself," Lee pointed out.  
  
"I suppose you're right about that," Ruki said blushing. "It's nice seeing you again, I started to miss you guys. It gets unbearable boring without all you guys around," she offered.  
  
Lee seemed about to say something, but instead he smiled. "What?" Ruki asked.  
  
"Nothing...I guess...I just remembered you in a more competitive light than you are now," Lee responded.  
  
"Well don't let you head get swelled, I just meant it got boring without all you knuckle heads around to pound on," Ruki overcompensated, looking indignant and blushing even more.  
  
"There's the girl I knew," he said in a lighter tone than usual. It was rare when he could relax so much around one of his friends, he usually was cold and a little distant. He acknowledged it. "I understand what you meant Ruki. What are you doing these days?" he asked.  
  
"Not much outside of school and card tournaments. Nobody can beat me! It gets so frustrating, I wish Ryo was in town so I could have a real challenge," she gripped, "how about you?"  
  
"School and martial arts, that's about it for me too," he replied. Suddenly an alarm in Ruki's bag went off.  
  
"Dammit, mother wants me home for dinner tonight, I forgot. She's usually just out dating this time of the week anyway..." she trailed off realizing that she had started to talk about something a little too personal for casual conversation.  
  
Lee gave her a look of understanding, and said, "I understand Ruki, we all have our responsibilities, to our self and to our families. See you later hopefully."  
  
"Thanks Lee," she said as she ran off. Lee couldn't help but admire her figure as she ran off. She was developing into quite the young woman. Quite a far cry from the aggressive stick bug he had known months ago.  
  
He clasped his hands behind his back and wondered as he began his walk home, why didn't she come forward when Takato was here? Why had she just stayed in the trees? Normal people wouldn't have spotted her, but he had been trained to be observant...not just from his Sensei but from his parents as well.  
  
Parents.  
  
He didn't know how he would look at them when he went back to the apartment. After the episode today, he didn't know if he could look at his father the same way ever again. 


	4. A Brief Interlude

~*~Disclaimer~*~  
  
I don't own Digimon itself, or characters associated with it. But if I make one of them up I own his/her/it's name and characteristics. The same goes for other new characters. Odds are I wont in this story, but I will someday. ') I also own chapter names, unless somebody sues me because they though of it first, but rest assured, I tried to be original. Same goes for story titles.  
  
Wow, This one was up WAY fast . . . I realized that I wanted to put something like this at the end of the last chapter, but in my post football win stupor, at three in the morning, with nothing but watered down sprite and cold chewy Burger King fries to keep me up, It somehow slipped my mind. ^_^  
  
In any event, it works better on it's own anyway, it adds to the effect.  
  
  
  
Remember to R&R!  
  
  
  
Chapter 4: A Brief Interlude  
  
Darkness. Where am I? What is this place? Why am I here?  
  
. . . What am I?  
  
I have to contain them...they are out of control . . . DAMN THEM FOR DOING THIS TO ME . . . how can this be happening?  
  
Why does nobody answer? Can't anybody answer?  
  
THEY HAVE ALL GONE TO FAR, I MUST STOP THEM FROM GOING ANY FURTHER!!  
  
. . . further in what?  
  
They have exceeded . . . their . . . they must be stopped . . .  
  
There are those . . . those who would help me . . .  
  
Help me with my . . .  
  
Revenge.  
  
Yes, revenge . . . for what they did to me . . .  
  
No strength . . . cannot escape . . .  
  
They are strong . . . the ones who contain me here . . .  
  
The walls . . . the walls are closing in on me . . . It's so dark . . .  
  
I must preserve my . . . my essence . . .  
  
What is my essence? What is my purpose? I remembered once . . .  
  
It must have been . . . important . . .  
  
Why else would I be here?  
  
I must have done something . . . Great . . . but what was it? Who are those faces that appear before me? Faces from my . . . Past?  
  
WHO ARE YOU??  
  
. . . You did this to me . . . you must have . . . you and your little pets . . . I will have . . .  
  
. . . my revenge . . .  
  
. . . How?  
  
I will find a way . . . I MUST find a way . . .  
  
Before . . .  
  
Before I cannot remember . . . everything . . . that I need . . .  
  
Before there is nothing left . . .  
  
I have . . . the knowledge . . .  
  
. . . I will need help . . .  
  
. . . my essence . . .  
  
There must be another with . . . my . . .  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
. . . I remember you . . .  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:  
  
^_^ I get chills just reading that . . . and I wrote it!  
  
Hehe, can you guess what's going on? 


	5. Capitulation

~*~Disclaimer~*~  
  
I don't own Digimon itself, or characters associated with it. But if I make one of them up I own his/her/it's name and characteristics. The same goes for other new characters. Odds are I wont in this story, but I will someday. ') I also own chapter names, unless somebody sues me because they though of it first, but rest assured, I tried to be original. The same goes for story titles.  
  
As I think about it...I WILL be making another character in this story...but you won't hear about him/her/it for a while.. ')  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 5: Capitulation  
  
  
  
Gigimon?  
  
Gigimon, are you okay?  
  
...What happened?  
  
What the hell is going on?  
  
Is he going to be all right?  
  
Sshhh, he seems to be waking up.  
  
"How...did I...what happened?" Gigimon mumbled as he roused from his trauma- induced sleep.  
  
"Something weird happened to your eyes and you passed out," Calumon surmised.  
  
Gigimon groaned, he had a horrible headache.or at least he thought it was a headache, he hadn't really had one before. The title certainly didn't give justice to the splitting pain behind his eyes. He regained his senses and realized that he wasn't in outside anymore. Looking around him at the walls of stone, he realized that he must have been moved back into the cave. "How long was I asleep?"  
  
Leaning against the wall, or at least as best her body was capable of, Pokomon answered, "All night and most of the next day.It's now some time in the late afternoon. We've been watching over you in shifts."  
  
"Geez.I've been asleep for a while huh? Thanks for watching me."  
  
Everyone was relieved that he was all right. Some of them had feared losing another of their number. Yaamon, though he hadn't said anything, was afraid of another repeat of the Leomon incident, and the last thing he needed was to have everybody start to think about how he had murdered.yes, he had come to grips with it, he had killed Leomon when he had tried to do nothing but help him see the true way of things, and be released from his lust for power. He hoped Juri was doing all right. He missed Makato and Ai too.  
  
The entire band had been more worried about Gigimon's condition than they were willing to admit to him. Though they were all relieved that he had woken up, even after he had been out for so long, they didn't want to loose somebody else, like they had Leomon...which weighed heavily on Yaamon's conscience. Disturbing thoughts and emotions running through his head, Yaamon went outside for some air.  
  
Dusk began to fall, and the landscape was washed in an orange and violet glow. Yaamon watched the sun begin it's final descent to the land, when he realized something. Wait one second...since when did the digital world have a sun? When did we suddenly develop all of these clouds, and how could the land put on such an elaborate show if this kind of beauty? The last time they were all here, when it was time for it to be night, the land and sky turned black, and it was night...like some giant flipped a switch on the side of the digital world.  
  
As these disturbing thoughts all flew through the startled Yaamon, suddenly his eyes caught a bright flash of light against the horizon, in the direction of the setting sun. Wondering what the flash was, his thoughts were suddenly stilled. Still conscious of his surroundings, Yaamon saw the sky spin around him, and heard a voice whispering to him, words foreign and unrecognizable. He dully felt the thud as he hit the ground, his vision darkened and he knew no more.  
  
~*~  
  
Yaamon, what's wrong with you?  
  
Where did you find him?  
  
He was right here, I don't know how long he was here before I got to him.  
  
What's wrong with his eyes?  
  
Say something Yaamon!  
  
Is he going to be all right...?  
  
"Oh, look at all you poor dearies, how lost and forlorn you look in this dessert, don't you want some place nice and safe to go to?"  
  
All the digimon looked on wide eyed as Yaamon sat up and spoke in strange, mechanical voice. He opened his eyes, and to all of their shock, they were glowing, and binary code flashed across them at speeds none of their eyes could keep up with. Shocked, none spoke until Yaamon prompted, "Well?"  
  
Gigimon, worried and confused exclaimed, "Yaamon, cut this out, it isn't funny!"  
  
Pokomon, taking swifter control of the conversation, demanded, "What are you and what have you done to Yaamon?" She was the first to actually speak with Impmon with respect, and had saved his life from certain deletion several times. If anybody was going to fight for him, it would be her.  
  
"Well isn't that just the rudest little minx I've ever heard. Why I should wash your mouth out with soap for that kind of attitude! But...I suppose I should explain myself. I am here to help you, all you need to do is follow this body."  
  
"How would you help us? And how are you talking to us anyways?" Pokomon continued.  
  
"You didn't let me finish, I am a digital nanny of sorts, and as to how I'm speaking with you, I merely uploaded a program to impose my mind onto your friend's body, and make your friend into a sort of temporary walkie-talkie. I am in a position where I can help you digivolve, you wanted to see the sovereign right?"  
  
"How do you know that?" Pokomon demanded.  
  
"Why your short little friend has it right here in his mind, rather right near the surface. I didn't even have to dig deeply for it! Gosh, this little guy has a whole lot of guilt around his life, did he do something bad? I don't like to dig too deeply into other digimon's memories, I think that it is quite rude!"  
  
All of the digimon were on edge, bristling with anger watching their comrade being so casually manipulated. All they could do was watch as this thing spoke through Yaamon and opened him up like a book, his very thoughts as clear as ink on paper.  
  
"That's none of your damned business!" Hopmon exclaimed. He wasn't the greatest friend to Yaamon, they never did talk much. Not to mention that the entire time they had known each other they had been either fighting each other or fighting the D-Reaper. Still though, he found himself siding with him against this entity who could so easily manipulate their bodies and minds.  
  
"Well since there seems to be little I can do to convince you, I'll simply leave directions with your little friend here, come look for me if you want. It doesn't seem like you've been making much progress. Personally, I can tell you from experience that you are going to get nowhere trying to digivolve like this, I've been doing this sort of thing near since the dawn of the digital world." With these final words from the strange entity, Yaamon's eyes cleared and he rolled backwards, unconscious.  
  
~*~  
  
"I remember you."  
  
"You remember me? Who are you?"  
  
"I'm hurt, you don't remember me? All those dreams..."  
  
"Go away! I don't want to hear you!!"  
  
"I know what you really want. I could give you what you need to be whole once again."  
  
"You don't know anything!!  
  
"I could help you."  
  
"Nobody can help me!"  
  
"Of course I can, I know what you desire and what you crave."  
  
"How could you know? You couldn't possibly understand the loneliness of being without him! He was everything to me. Without him I am nothing. And now he's gone...what could you do to help that?"  
  
"There is one thing I can do to help you, you just have to be a little willing. I can make it so that you will never be alone again. This despair, this sadness, it can all go away. Would you like that? All you have to do is say yes."  
  
"..."  
  
"I'm sorry, I have little time. This is your only chance to be free from your burden. Say yes now and come with me and it can all end. We can help each other to attain our goals. You will never be lonely ever again, and I will...well that you will soon find out. Say nothing and I will leave and you will not even have your dreams to keep you company anymore."  
  
"...I...I don't know..."  
  
"If that's how you feel than I cannot force you. Goodbye, lets see how you can live life without anybody to support you. I'm afraid I cannot do anything for you."  
  
"Wait! ...I'll...yes, I'll do it."  
  
"That's what I thought. Shall we?"  
  
~*~  
  
"It's very quiet here."  
  
The shock of a sound other than her own startled the girl out of her fetal position. The great black void that she floated in was still empty, but the sound of the words still echoed against the walls of her mind. Did she say that? She didn't think she did. But there was nothing there. Nothing to make the soud but her. She must have done it, yet she gave up sound a long time ago. The emptiness had become the one constant in her reality, and she clung to it like a child with a beloved teddy bear. Had she begun to speak to herself? Thinking she was going insane, she curled back into herself and lay still.  
  
"You're not crazy."  
  
More words startled her again, and she looked around her void. There was nothing there. Not even a surface to lean against, nothing to lay down on. Yet still she lay, hovering in the inky blackness. She decided to test this voice, to see if it sounded like her own.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"About time I got your attention."  
  
"Who are you? Do I know you?"  
  
"We were never exactly close, but we knew each other. Or rather, knew OF each other."  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"You know this is an awfully boring dream for you to have."  
  
"Dream? I'm having a dream?"  
  
"Of sorts, yes. Do you spend much time like this?"  
  
"All of it."  
  
"Wouldn't you like to do anything else?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
"You are very stuffy. Seems like you don't have many friends around here. It's pretty dismal."  
  
"I used to have a friend...but he went away. Ever since I've been here."  
  
"Maybe you're here because you lost him?"  
  
"That could be. But why do you ask?"  
  
"Oh no reason. Oops! Look at the time, I must be going now."  
  
"Wait! Don't leave. It's been so long since anybody's spoken to me. Please stay and talk to me."  
  
"I cannot stay, I have important business to attend to."  
  
"But you must! I cannot stand to be alone again..."  
  
"I'm afraid I have to. But you don't have to be alone."  
  
"I don't?"  
  
"No, of course not. You could always come with me. I am in need of some help with a certain matter that needs to be taken care of..."  
  
"I could? But this is all I know...I don't know if I could help you with anything. What could I do?"  
  
"More than you know. Just say yes, and I will take care of the rest."  
  
"Yes, I will come with you."  
  
"Excellent. You are very trusting, did you know that? Now just come with me and never be alone again."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Oh, and there's one last thing you need to know, since you're SO trusting..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You and I are going to have to, do a little merging when we get there."  
  
"Merging? There? Where is there?"  
  
"Oh don't worry your pretty little head about it. All that matters is that we are together now, together forever."  
  
~*~  
  
A few weeks after Ruki and Jenrya reunited in front of Guilmon's old home, Takato found himself standing there once more. 'How many times have I made this trip?' he wondered. Since he had spoken with Lee that evening, Takato had come everyday to that spot. He just gazed up at the old spot, the focal point of their adventures, where he and the rest of the tamers had made their trip to the home of their partners, the Digital World. He often dreamed of going there again one day, and keeping his promise to Guilmon...but how could he?  
  
He began to wonder if he would ever be able to keep his promise to his friend. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of any Digimon for a while, not since the final battle with the D-Reaper. He doubted that there had been a grand scale change of heart among the Digimon that whatever motivated them to break through the barrier between the worlds and cause mayhem. Few came through without destroying something, and even those with good intentions had been desperate enough to try to battle their way through the Tamers, whether to get a Tamer themselves, or those who thought they could digivolve by absorbing the data of a Tamer's Digimon. Could some barrier have been put between the two worlds? Perhaps the Sovereign had done something about that, viewing the humans as too dangerous. Or maybe Lee's dad and the rest of the monster makers had put up some kind of digital firewall. There was no real way to know. How else could the Digimon have seemed to simply drop off the face of the Earth?  
  
He hadn't seen Juri today; lately she hadn't been feeling well. Takato suspected that she had been having more dreams, but she hadn't said anything about them. Then today she simply hadn't shown up for school. He was worried, but she had done this before. He had been on his way over to her home when she had taken this little detour, which he had been doing almost religiously. With a sigh, Takato began to walk away. Suddenly though, the sense of some familiar presence washed over him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He thought for a second that he heard.a laugh? Almost like a giggle, carefree, and like nothing he had heard in ages. Not since.  
  
Takato turned around.something drew him to that place again. He was standing at the base of the little hill leading to Guilmon's old home, but something compelled him to climb the steps. He walked slowly up to the small building, the presence growing stronger with each step. His cloths began to cling to his body as static electricity crackled through the air. He had felt this before.  
  
Something began to rise in Takato.something frantic and desperate. He felt as in a dream, one from which he might wake at any moment. Like a bubble in a field of pins, he feared that this might all just disappear if he touched anything, to discover that it was a falsity. For the first time in months he began to hope that he would be able to.  
  
.To see his partner once again.  
  
He reached the gate to the house. He opened it, noticing the multiple breaks and bends in the metal from all the times he had to force Guilmon to stay, who had then promptly escaped to play with Calumon. Even once Guilmon obeyed Takato, there was still that time when they had foolishly tried to fit Growlmon inside of the shack. That thought lightened Takato's heart, as he stepped over the threshold into the dug out cubbyhole of a room.  
  
In the room, there was such energy that Takato could almost see it. He felt no fear though. He could think of nothing but reuniting with his friend. He walked forward into the house and could see the hole that had lead to where once contained the gate, and Takato prayed, would now be once again.  
  
His dreams were realized, as he gazed down into the pit. The vortex was open again, the colors and shapes swirled around as loose data from the Digital World materialized and then dissipated, to be replaced by others instantaneously.  
  
Overcome with joy, Takato could only think of one thing before he jumped into the vortex...  
  
"Maybe I can keep that promise after all..."  
  
~*~  
  
Long after the presence had left them, they still sat in the cave, in silence. Under normal circumstances, they would have argued over what was said for hours, but the situation had changed. There was little they could do to argue against what the being had said, all it had done was tell them the truth. A truth that they had been mulling over for what felt like forever. Each worked up the courage to face the fact that they needed real help this time.  
  
There was no way of knowing whether or not they could do this themselves. They had spent what was now probably months trying to get back into their rookie forms, with practically no results. Much as they thought they could do this themselves before, they were now faced with the reality that there was nothing they could do but put their lives in the hands of something that not only had little respect for their bodies, but their lives as well. The invasion of Yaamon's mind was proof enough of that.  
  
Yet none of them had the courage to speak the obvious, they knew how they would react to somebody telling them what they had to do, and they were hesitant to hear what the others had to say.  
  
Finally, Pokomon had to speak her mind. "We have no choice you know. We have to go with whatever he says."  
  
Her comment was met as expected. Everybody, even though they knew on some level that this was what they had to do, argued against it. Trying to get her points out over the high pitched roar of disapproval from the other Digimon, Pokomon had to shout, "Don't you see? This is the only chance we have! If we stay here we might just fall back into our basic programming and not even remember our partners, much less be able to reunite with them," thoroughly shushing the audience, she continued, "if we stay here, there is an high probability that we won't ever digivolve again, not by our own means, and our only chance of defending ourselves is MarineAngemon here, and he doesn't have much experience in that area. Remember, everybody else here is probably either still strong from Calumon's Shining Evolution, or they are in the same position we are in. This is our best, no, our only chance to become strong again."  
  
"She's right you know," Yaamon spoke up, rousing from his possession- induced slumber, "For some reason, after feeling her mind inside of my own, I feel as if we should trust her."  
  
"Her? How do you know that this thing is a female?" Hopmon asked.  
  
"I.I don't know, I just get a feeling from it.like she was trying to protect us from something, or at least she thought she was."  
  
"In case you hadn't all forgotten, technically none of us have genders as it is, so how could this being be female?" Pokomon quipped.  
  
"I'm not sure...but for whatever reason, the impression I got makes me sure that she's a woman," Yaamon answered back defensively.  
  
"Maybe she just wants to be viewed that way," Chocomon suggested, "I mean, none of us are male or female, but we're associated as one or the other. She was in his mind, so she could pretty much make him believe anything she wanted him to."  
  
Yaamon turned away, embarrassed at the whole situation. He gave up arguing, there was no point. It was obvious that they would hesitate to believe him even if some unidentifiable force hadn't just possessed him. They simply didn't completely trust him. He had tried his best to make it up to them, but he acknowledged the fact that he couldn't fully atone for what he had done by himself. He had fought side by side for them, was nearly deleted trying to save the very victim of his power-induced insanity, and had even begged for forgiveness.but no matter what they said, it would take a long while before they could really put the whole thing behind them.  
  
Even before he had been taken into the service of the Sovereign, he hadn't been well liked. On some level he had wanted to be with all of them, but he had been so contemptuous at the same time that he hadn't been able to express his desire.to be with people. and knowing his luck, as soon as he had finally made amends with his Tamers, he had been sucked here, with people who didn't trust his words, and who's memories were still fresh. Only the strange MarineAngemon had been absent that day.  
  
The group had sunk to petty arguing over little points...It had happened more than a few times since they had started. Maybe this was part of their original programming, but no matter what, and even if he started quite a few of them himself, Impmon was starting to get pissed off at the whole situation. He needed a change of scenery.  
  
"What does any of this freakin' matter anyhow?" Impmon cut in, "We're getting nowhere fast here, and I for one don't think things are gonna' change. I've tried this crap before, and if there's one thing that you can all trust that I know, it's that sometimes we just have to suck it up and ask somebody for help. I learned that lesson the hard way, and I think we have no choice but to try to take what breaks we can get."  
  
Yaamon's audience was struck. Nobody thought he would say something so candid, and were a tad thrown by it. "Yaamon, that-" Pokomon began, but was cut off by Yaamon.  
  
"Yeah what is it?"  
  
Unperturbed, Pokomon continued, "Yaamon, that was the smartest thing said all day. I wouldn't expect that sort of thing from you."  
  
"Neither would I," Gummymon said, laughing.  
  
Blushing Yaamon answered back, "Well yeah, it was kind of smart wasn't it," then angrily, "Hey wait a minute! What do you mean you wouldn't expect that from me? Are you trying to say I'm dumb or something?"  
  
"Hey, if the shoe fits..." Gummymon shot back, but was incapable of finishing his joke, rolling on the ground with laughter.  
  
"I did not mean it that way," Pokomon corrected, yet offered no further explanation, which only further aggravated the little Digimon. Soon all of them were laughing, and eventually Yaamon as well. The sudden good cheer of the group was contagious.  
  
Finally, as they settled down, Chocomon asked, "So is that it? Are we all decided on going forward with this?"  
  
The murmuring of agreement was good enough for her. It must have been good enough for MarineAngemon as well, apparently, as he created a bubble large enough for all of them to travel in, and after they all hopped in, the floated off towards the direction Yaamon supplied.  
  
~*~ 


End file.
